(Photo courtesy of PCOO)

MANILA, (PIA) -- Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Z. Duterte said the face-to-face (F2F) classes, to be required on Nov. 2, 2022, will help address the learning loss among several learners during the pandemic.

Duterte said public and private schools nationwide have until October 31 to prepare for the transition. 

The Vice President made the statement despite calls for reconsiderations due to the risks from COVID-19 and the short vacation of teachers for the next school year.

In an interview, Duterte said the Department of Education (DepEd) Order 034 has been already approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“We have cited a study on our presentation before the President, and this is a published paper already, that there are really, truthfully learning losses among children when they are in online classes or distance learning. It also indicated that it is more pronounced and learners are disadvantaged at home. Meaning, it is worse for poor families,” she said.

The vice president noted that schools still have until Oct. 31 to prepare for the full transition to an in-person class setup.

“For August 22 until October 31, options are indicated in our Department Order. First is the five-day in-person classes. Secondly, the blended modality. This is where schools may opt to do three days in-person classes and then two days remote, or distance learning. And then after they can shift to four days of in-person classes and one-day distance learning. Or they can mix up,” she said.

But from Nov. 2 and beyond, all schools must shift to in-person classes with the implementation of “physical distancing whenever possible.”

“The reason why we included the ‘physical distancing shall be implemented whenever possible’ is that, this is one of the considerations included because we don’t want to add, add on the burden of additional classes in schools due to distancing,” she added.

This means that the DepEd will not be setting a standard size or learners' capacity per room, as school spaces vary in size.

Duterte also discussed the strict prohibitions on eating, given the limited spaces which might increase the probability of transmission.

“This is one of the instances, where we remove our face masks, so eating together, should be prohibited, and if the spaces are limited inside the schools, learners should be separated from each other by eating while facing the same directions. So learners will not be facing each other,” she added.

The education chief, meanwhile, encouraged parents or family members, especially the vulnerable ones, to avail themselves of the booster shots against COVID-19 since children were found to be of high recovery rate than them.

Duterte noted that maintaining the minimum health protocols would be of significant help alongside vaccination. (PIA-NCR)